Al-Khattat Al-Munafiz

Al-Khattat Al-Munafiz was an intensive six-month program (from August 2019 to February 2020), sponsored by “Ebda3 men Masr” Alex bank and Tahrir lounge-Goethe. It was dedicated to the artists who wanted to learn the Angular inscriptions, in order to help them use this Art while designing their products. There were 21 artists and designers from different artistic backgrounds who took part in this course. Mr. Salah Abd Al-Khaleq, professional calligrapher, was the instructor who gave lessons in four types of Kufic scripts: Fatimid Kufi, Mushafi Kufi (Quran Kufi), Square Kufi and Mamluk Kufi. In addition, several workshops that covered the traditional handicrafts that mainly depend on Islamic Arts and Arabic Calligraphy were held. Many field trips and tours to museums and mosques were organized. Moreover, the participants had the opportunity to attend a series of mentoring sessions, titled ‘Meet your mentor’, conducted by veteran calligraphers such as Khodier Al-Bursaiedy and Munir Al-Sha’rawy, etc.

As Al-Qalam is always concern about building strong relationships with Al-Khalifa residents, the participants in Al-Khattat Al-Munafiz offered a series of sessions and workshops in Art and Handicrafts (18 sessions), as part of the activities of ‘Al-Qalam Winter Camp’ dedicated to youngsters between the ages of 8 and 21 and in cooperation with some cultural institutions such as the library of Islamic Civilization, the House of Egyptian Architecture and Bayt al-Sinnari. Al-Qalam hosted an exhibition for the alumni of this program in October 2020 to display their artworks in which they used Arabic Calligraphy on one of the traditional handicrafts.